Tone-phase-shift keying: a new modulation scheme for SC-FDMA

ABSTRACT

A method of wireless communication by a user equipment includes determining an allocation of a set of tones in a symbol for conveying data. The method further includes determining to use m-ary phase shift keying (MPSK) to modulate the data onto a subset of tones of the set of tones. The method further includes modulating the data onto the subset of tones based on a mapping, wherein the mapping maps pairs of data values with a largest Hamming distance from each other to pairs of constellation points with a maximum Euclidean distance from each other.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/572,730, entitled “TONE-PHASE-SHIFT KEYING: A NEW MODULATION SCHEMEFOR SC-FDMA” and filed on Dec. 16, 2014 which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/062,132, entitled “TONE-PHASE-SHIFTKEYING: A NEW MODULATION SCHEME FOR SC-FDMA” and filed on Oct. 9, 2014which are expressly incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND Field

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication, andmore particularly, to signal modulation.

Background

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is a popular signalmodulation scheme having various advantages. One such advantage is thatOFDM readily supports flexible multiple-user access. OFDM and orthogonalfrequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) are widely used in modernwireless communication systems such as Wireless Local Area Networking(WLAN), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), etc.

OFDM signals may have a relatively high peak-to-average power ratio(PAPR). High PAPR may lead to the necessity of high-resolutionanalog-to-digital converters (ADCs), high-resolution digital-to-analogconverters (DACs), and power amplifiers having high linearity.Oftentimes, high-linearity power amplifiers have lower power efficiency,due to the amount of power needed to produce an effective signal, aswell as higher cost. Although OFDM may be commonly used in downlinktransmissions from a base station, such as an evolved Node B (eNB), thedisadvantages of power and cost associated with OFDM can make OFDMpoorly suited for mobile devices requiring reduced power consumption tomaintain long battery life.

For reduced PAPR, single-carrier frequency-division multiple access(SC-FDMA) can be used. The reduced PAPR associated with SC-FDMA enablesincreased power efficiency when compared to OFDMA, making SC-FDMAsuitable for transmissions from a mobile device/user equipment (UE),such as an uplink transmission of a UE operating according to the LTEstandard of telecommunication. However, although SC-FDMA reduces PAPRwhen compared to conventional OFDMA, SC-FDMA still has a relativelylarge PAPR when a relatively large number of tones are allocated for theuplink transmission of the signal.

Much effort has been made to reduce signal PAPR of OFDM and SC-FDMAsignals without significant success. Various schemes have been proposedthat often entail complicated signal processing, loss in bandwidthefficiency, and/or increased inter-carrier interference. One example isthe attempt to apply constant-envelope modulations, such asminimum-shift keying (MSK) and Gaussian MSK (GMSK), to SC-FDMA. Due totheir nonlinearity, implementation of MSK and GMSK in SC-FDMA is notstraightforward, and entails significant bandwidth expansion and loss inerror performance. With the advent of internet of things (IOT), there isa growing need for very low-power wireless communication devices toenable extended battery life. This in turn calls for modulation schemeswith very low PAPR.

SUMMARY

In an aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication by aUE is provided. The UE determines an allocation of a set of tones in asymbol for conveying data. The UE determines to use m-ary phase shiftkeying (MPSK) to modulate the data onto a subset of tones of the set oftones. The UE modulates the data onto the subset of tones based on amapping that maps pairs of data values with a largest Hamming distancefrom each other to pairs of constellation points with a maximumEuclidean distance from each other.

In an aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication isprovided. The method may be performed by a base station. The basestation receives a data transmission from a user equipment (UE). Thebase station detects a subset of tones having maximal energy of anallocated set of tones in a symbol. The base station demodulates eachtone of the subset of tones to determine data based on a mapping thatmaps pairs of data values with a largest Hamming distance from eachother to pairs of constellation points with a maximum Euclidean distancefrom each other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an evolved Node B and auser equipment, and illustrating an exemplary method in relation to datamodulation and transmission.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a first modulation scheme formodulating data into a selected tone from an allocated set of tones in asymbol.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a second modulation scheme formodulating data into two tones of a selected two-tone subset from anallocated set of tones in a symbol.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method of wireless communication.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a method of wireless communication.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating the data flowbetween different modules/means/components in an exemplary apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementationfor an apparatus employing a processing system.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating the data flowbetween different modules/means/components in an exemplary apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementationfor an apparatus employing a processing system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appendeddrawings is intended as a description of various configurations and isnot intended to represent the configurations in which the conceptsdescribed herein may be practiced. The detailed description includesspecific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understandingof various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that these concepts may be practiced without these specificdetails. In some instances, well known structures and components areshown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts.

Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented withreference to various apparatus and methods. These apparatus and methodswill be described in the following detailed description and illustratedin the accompanying drawings by various blocks, modules, components,circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred toas “elements”). These elements may be implemented using electronichardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether suchelements are implemented as hardware or software depends upon theparticular application and design constraints imposed on the overallsystem.

By way of example, an element, or any portion of an element, or anycombination of elements may be implemented with a “processing system”that includes one or more processors. Examples of processors includemicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs),field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices(PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, andother suitable hardware configured to perform the various functionalitydescribed throughout this disclosure. One or more processors in theprocessing system may execute software. Software shall be construedbroadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments,program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications,software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines,objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc.,whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode,hardware description language, or otherwise.

Accordingly, in one or more exemplary embodiments, the functionsdescribed may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or anycombination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may bestored on or encoded as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes computerstorage media. Storage media may be any available media that can beaccessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, suchcomputer-readable media can comprise a random-access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM(EEPROM), compact disk ROM (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in theform of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by acomputer. Combinations of the above should also be included within thescope of computer-readable media.

FIG. 1 is a diagram 100 illustrating an example of a base station 102and a UE 104, and illustrating an exemplary method in relation to datamodulation and transmission. Referring to FIG. 1, in a wirelesscommunication method, such as WLAN, LTE, etc., a UE 104 may be allocatedone or more resource elements that may be used to transmit data and/orcontrol information, each resource element comprising a tone (in thefrequency domain) in a symbol (in the time domain). As an example, theresource elements may be allocated to the UE 104 using a transmission107 from a base station 102, such as an evolved Node B (eNB).

Once the UE 104 determines 111 which resource elements are allocated(e.g., which tones are allocated in a particular symbol), the UE 104 mayselect 112 one or more of the allocated resource elements, and maydetermine to modulate 113 data into the selected resource element(s).The manner in which the UE 104 selects 112 the resource elements andmodulates 113 the data may correspond to an agreed upon modulationscheme, which in turn corresponds to an agreed upon mapping of alloweddata values to allowed modulated values. Thereafter, the UE 104 maytransmit a signal 106 including information (e.g., one or more modulatedvalues) contained in one or more of the allocated resource elements.Then, the base station 102 may receive the signal 106, detect 108 whichof the resource elements includes modulated values for indicating datafrom the UE 104, and may demodulate 109 the resource elements todetermine the information of the signal 106 sent by the UE 104 (e.g., bycomparing a received modulated value of a demodulated resource elementto a closest matching allowed modulated value indicated in aconstellation point set of the mapping known to the base station 102,and by then determining which data value corresponds to the closestmatching allowed modulated value based on the mapping).

Configurations described below provide constant-envelope modulationschemes (e.g., 0 dB PAPR) that can be used in SC-FDMA signal generation.In general, configurations of the modulation schemes described below usea mapping to match modulated signals with data values (e.g., aconstellation point index linking respective data values to variousconstellation points, or to one or more modulated values in one or moreof a plurality of tones). A device seeking to transmit a signalcontaining a data value using the described modulation schemes (e.g., UE104 seeking to transmit signal 106) might choose only a relatively smallsubset of allocated tones to transmit m-ary phase-shift keying (MPSK)signals according to values of bits of the data value to be transmitted.Accordingly, because the modulation schemes use both tone and signalphases to represent the data value, the modulation schemes may bereferred to as tone-phase-shift keying (TPSK). Further, a TPSKmodulation with D allocated tones and M allowed signal phases may bereferred to as (D,M)-TPSK.

FIG. 2 is a diagram 200 illustrating a first modulation scheme formodulating data as a modulated value 210 into a selected tone 207 of aselected subset 206 from an allocated set 202 of tones 201 in a symbol204. In the present configuration, the UE 104 determines 111 which tones208 are part of the allocated set 202, which phase-shift keying is used(e.g., Binary Phase-Shift Keying (BPSK) modulation, QuadraturePhase-Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation, 8PSK, etc.), and whatbit-to-symbol mapping, or data-value-to-constellation-point mapping, isused to map a data value to a particular constellation point. Here, 4tones are allocated, and BPSK is used (e.g., D is equal to 4 and M isequal to 2).

The UE 104 then selects 112 a subset 206 including only one tone 207from an allocated set 202 of 4 tones of the 12 tones 201 in the symbol204 for each data value intended. The UE 104 may then modulate 113 thetone 207 according to the determined mapping and corresponding to thedata to be transmitted. That is, the data values to be transmitted bythe UE 104 will determine which subset 206 of tones the UE 104 willselect 112, and which modulated value 210 the UE will modulate onto theselected tone 207 of the subset 206 using the determined MPSKmodulation. Thereafter, the UE 104 may transmit a signal 106 containingthe modulated value 210 to the base station 102 to convey the data. Thesymbol 204 transmitted by the UE 104 may be the Inverse fast Fouriertransform (IFFT) of a vector of data corresponding to a modulated value210 with the entry of the tone 207 being the only nonzero entry of alltones 201 of the symbol 204.

Upon receiving the signal 106 from the UE 104, the base station 102 maydetermine 110 the data by demodulating 109 the received signal 106 todetermine a corresponding modulated value 210 (e.g., to determine whichsignal phase is modulated, and on which tone 207), and by determining114 which constellation point of the mapping corresponds to thedetermined modulated value 210.

When D tones 208 are allocated in the set 202 and M possible signalphases are allowed (e.g., M is equal to 2 for BPSK, M is equal to 4 forQPSK, M is equal to 8 for 8PSK, etc.), a constellation point correspondsto a signal phase of a modulated value 210 on the selected tone 207,while all other, unselected tones 212 of the allocated set 202 havezeroes thereon. Accordingly, the constellation point can be representedby a vector of length d having a single nonzero entry with a value ofexp[j(2π/M+ϕ)], where j=sqrt(−1) and ϕ is any constant known the UE 104and the base station 102.

Furthermore, because there is a total of M*D possible constellationpoints (e.g., the number of M possible constellation points per tonemultiplied by D total tones is equal to D*M possible signals that may betransmitted), only 2^(k) allowed constellation points, or allowedmodulated values, are chosen in a particular mapping, where k is thelargest integer that is smaller than or equal to log₂(MD). That is, thenumber of bits of the data value to be transmitted 106 in symbol 204 isthe largest integer that is not greater than log₂(M*D). Accordingly, foreach OFDM or SC-FDMA symbol, a data sequence of k bits is mapped to oneof 2^(k) d-length vectors, the entry of which is then sent over theallocated set 202 of tones.

Further still, an agreed upon mapping that maps each possible k-bit datasequence to each of the 2^(k) constellation points may be known to boththe UE 104 and the base station 102 to enable communication using thedescribed configuration. For example, mapping schemes may be determinedwith the intention of reducing or minimizing a bit error rate (BER),wherein pairs of bit sequences having a larger Hamming distance (i.e., alarger number of differing bits) are mapped to constellation points witha larger Euclidean distance.

For example, the present configuration uses BPSK across one of 4 tonessuch that there are 8 possible constellation points in a constellationset (i.e., M*D), thereby enabling 3 bits of data to be transmitted ineach symbol (i.e., 0.75 bits per tone per symbol). Because four tonesare allocated with only a single tone being a non-zero entry, and aconstellation point may be denoted by [s1, s2, s3, s4] with s1representing a modulated value of the signal on tone 1, s2 representinga modulated value of the signal on tone 2, etc. Further, in the presentexample, a modulated value of 1 corresponds to a vector of length dpointing to the right, while a modulated value of −1 corresponds to avector of length d pointing to the left (e.g., modulated value 210). Asshown in FIG. 2, data values 000 and 111 are respectively mapped to [1,0, 0, 0] and [−1, 0, 0, 0], 001 and 110 are respectively mapped to [0,1, 0, 0] and [0, −1, 0, 0], 010 and 101 are respectively mapped to [0,0, 1, 0] and [0, 0, −1, 0], and 100 and 011 are respectively mapped to[0, 0, 0, 1] and [0, 0, 0, −1].

Because there are exactly 4 pairs of bit sequences that differ at 3 bits(e.g., 4 pairs of data, or bit sequences, that have a Hamming distanceof 3), the mapping of the present configuration maps each of the pairsof data to two constellation points having a maximum Euclidean distancefrom each other. By matching pairs of data values having a largestHamming distance with corresponding pairs of constellation points havinga largest Euclidean distance, error rate is reduced, and bandwidth andpower efficiency are improved over conventional phase-shift keying. Itshould be noted when two constellation points x and y among D selectedtones are respectively represented by [x(1), x(2), . . . x(D)] and[y(1), y(2), . . . y(D)], then the Euclidean distance therebetween isrepresented by sqrt{[x(1)−y(1)]²+[x(2)−y(2)]²+ . . . +[x(D)−y(D)]²}. Incomparison, the Euclidean distance between the two constellation pointsof conventional BPSK modulation may be represented by d=2*sqrt(E_(b)),where E_(b) is equal to an energy per bit, and wherein a BER is0.5erfc[sqrt(E_(b)/No)].

To achieve improved bandwidth and power efficiency, D and M may bechosen such that they are not very large. It is also noteworthy that athigh signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), a bit error rate of the (D,M)-TPSK canbe approximated as α*erfc[d/(2sqrt(No))] with a being a constantdepending on values corresponding to D and M, and depending on themapping, wherein No is the noise variance, and d is the minimalEuclidean distance of the constellation.

Several TPSK schemes with good bandwidth and power efficiency, andadditional examples of mapping schemes for different configurations, areprovided below.

(1,2)-TPSK: When D is equal to 1 (i.e., only a single tone is allocatedper symbol) and M is equal to 2 (e.g., BPSK), only one information bitcan be transmitted per symbol. Such a configuration would be similar toconventional BPSK with only a single tone allocated.

(2,2)-TPSK: When D and M is each equal to 2, 2 bits of information canbe carried in each symbol used by the UE to transmit data, or 1 bit pertone per symbol. The four constellation points (e.g., two constellationpoints per tone for two tones) may be represented by [0, +1], [0, −1],[+1, 0], [−1 0], where [0,+1] indicates that a phase-shift keying of 0is transmitted over the first tone (e.g., an unselected tone) and aphase-shift keying of +1 is transmitted over the second tone. Similarly,[−1, 0] indicates that a phase-shift keying of −1 is transmitted overthe first tone, and a keying of 0 is transmitted over the second tone.Such a configuration has the same bandwidth efficiency as BPSK, has aminimal Euclidean distance of 2*sqrt(E_(b)), where E_(b) is the energyper bit, and has identical power efficiency (i.e., an equivalent BER fora given E_(b)) and bandwidth efficiency as BPSK.

(3,3)-TPSK: When D and M is each equal to 3, a data value having a 3-bitsequence can be carried per symbol (i.e., log₂(3*3) rounded down to thenearest integer is 3, therefore 3 bits per data value, or 1 bit per toneper symbol), which provides the same bandwidth efficiency as BPSK.However, the present scheme has a minimal Euclidean distance between twoconstellation points using different tones equal to sqrt(6E_(b)), whichis larger than that of BPSK, and therefore provides better powerefficiency than BPSK at high SNR. Because an increased Euclideandistance of 3*sqrt(E_(b)) exists in the present scheme between any twoconstellation points using the same tone, two data values having aHamming distance of 3 may be respectively mapped to two constellationpoints on the same tone. Accordingly, a possible mapping of the 8constellation points respectively corresponding to the 8 data values 000through 111 can be [0, 0, 1], [0, 1, 0], [1, 0, 0], [0, 0, exp(j2π/3)],[0, exp(j2π/3), 0], [exp(j2π/3), 0, 0], [0, exp(j4π/3), 0], and [0, 0,exp(j4π/3)]. As another example, the 8 constellation pointscorresponding to data values 000 to 111 can respectively be [0, 0, 1],[0, 0, exp(j2π/3)], [0, 0, exp(j4π/3)], [0, 1, 0], [0, exp(j2π/3), 0],[0, exp(j4π/3), 0], [1, 0, 0], [exp(j2π/3), 0, 0].

(4,4)-TPSK: When D and M is each equal to 4, the modulation schemeallows for 4 bits per symbol to be carried, which is the same bandwidthefficiency as that of BPSK. There are 8 pairs of bit sequences thatdiffer at 4 bits (e.g., a Hamming distance of 4), such as the pair ofbit sequences 0000 and 1111. Also, there are 8 pairs of constellationpoints with a maximal Euclidean distance, such as the pair [1, 0, 0, 0]and [−1, 0, 0, 0], and the pair [j, 0, 0, 0] and [−j, 0, 0, 0]. Themapping in the present scheme may map each bit sequence pair having amaximal Hamming distance to a constellation pair with the maximalEuclidean distance. The minimal Euclidean distance of this scheme isd=sqrt(8E_(b)), resulting in a 3 dB gain in power efficiency whencompared to conventional BPSK.

(4,8)-TPSK: When D is equal to 4, and M is equal to 8, the modulationscheme allows for 5 bits to be carried per symbol, or 1.25 bits to becarried per tone per symbol. There are 16 pairs of bit-sequences with alargest Hamming distance of 4, and 16 pairs of constellation pointshaving a largest Euclidean distance of 2. A mapping scheme may map eachof the 16 data pairs to one of the 16 constellation point pairs. Theminimal Euclidean distance of such a (4,8)-TPSK modulation scheme isabout sqrt(2.93E_(b)), approximately resulting in a loss of 1.35 dB inpower efficiency when compared to conventional BPSK at high SNR.

(6,6)-TPSK: When D and M are both equal to 6, the modulation schemeallows for 5 bits to be carried per symbol, or ⅚^(ths) of a bit per toneper symbol. A minimal Euclidean distance for the present scheme issqrt(5E_(b)), which provides a gain of 0.97 dB when compared toconventional BPSK.

(8,8)-TPSK: When D and M are both equal to 8, the modulation schemeallows for 6 bits to be carried per symbol or 0.75 bits per tone persymbol. The minimal Euclidean distance in the present scheme issqrt(3.5E_(b)), resulting in a loss of 0.58 dB when compared toconventional BPSK.

The TPSK modulation schemes described above can also be extended to morethan one tone per symbol in other configurations, enabling betterbandwidth efficiency, but also resulting in increased PAPR. For example,as will be described with respect to FIG. 3 below, instead of having asingle tone containing a non-zero entry, two tones may be allowed tocarry MPSK signals. In such a case, the PAPR is bounded by 3 dB, whichis still substantially lower than conventional OFDMA and SC-OFDMAsignals.

FIG. 3 is a diagram 300 illustrating a second modulation scheme formodulating data into two tones 307 a, 307 b of a selected two-tonesubset 306 from an allocated set 302 of tones 301 in a symbol 304. Inthe present configuration, and like the first configuration, tones of anallocated set 302 of tones 301 of a symbol 304 are allocated, a subset306 of tones 307 a, 307 b is selected, and data is modulated into theselected subset 306. However, unlike the first configuration, theselected subset 306 includes two tones 307 a, 307 b instead of only onetone (i.e., tone 207). Further, the selected subset 306 (which may beselected 112 by the UE 104 according to information bits of an inputdata value, and according to a mapping) is one of a plurality ofpossible two-tone subsets (including subsets 308).

In the present configuration, when a set 302 of D tones are allocated,and when two tones are allowed to be used for each symbol 304, there areD*(D−1)/2 possible two-tone sets (e.g., each subset 308 comprising twotones). Within each two-tone set, there may be M*M distinct signal phasepairs (e.g., 16 distinct pairs of signal phases in QPSK). As a result,the number of bits that may be carried is equal to a largest integerthat is not greater than log 2[D*(D−1)*M*M/2]. Furthermore, when log2[D*(D−1)*M*M/2] is not an integer, it's possible to choose a particularsubset of constellation points for reduced PAPR. For instance, if D wasequal to 4 and M was equal to 5, 6 two-tone sets are possible, and amapping including 128 allowed constellation points (of 150 possibleconstellation points) can be constructed to enable a data sequence of 7bits to be carried per symbol time. The resulting scheme provides 40%more bandwidth efficiency when compared to standard BPSK. As anotherexample, when D is equal to 8 and M is equal to 7, a constellation setof 1024 constellation points can be constructed to carry 10 bits perOFDM symbol. The resulting modulation scheme provides 25% higherbandwidth efficiency as compared to BPSK.

As described above, as many as all of the possible two-tone subsets ofthe D allocated tones may be used, which is equal to D*(D−1)/2.Alternatively, a number of allowed two-tone subsets may be limited suchthat a number of defined two-tone subsets may be equal to an integerpower of 2. For example, if the number of tones in the allocated set 302is represented by D, then the number of allowed two-tone subsets may bechosen as D_(c), where D_(c) is the largest integer of power 2 that issmaller than the number of possible different two-tone combinations ofthe tones of the allocated set 302. For example, if the number of tonesin the allocated set is 8 (i.e., D is equal to 8), then 16 out of the 28possible two-tone subsets may be set aside for the mapping scheme (i.e.,D_(c) is equal to 16).

Further, when only two tones are chosen for each symbol 304, the maximalPAPR is approximately 3 dB. At the receiver (e.g., the base station 102shown in FIG. 1), an energy comparator may be applied to detect 108tone(s) with the maximal energy (e.g., tones 307 a and 307 b) among theallocated set 302 of tones. Thereafter, the base station 102 may performconventional MPSK demodulation 109 over the chosen tone(s) 307 a, 307 bof the selected subset 306 to determine modulated values on the tones.The error probability of tone selection at the receiver of the basestation 102 (i.e., choosing an non-signal-bearing, unselected tone 312),may be represented by erfc(sqrt(E_(s)/(2*N_(o)))), where E_(s) is theenergy per MPSK signal, and where No is the noise power spectraldensity.

Referring to the example shown in FIG. 3, the number of tones in theallocated set 302 is 9 (i.e., D is equal to 9). The number of possibletwo-tone combinations of the 9 different tones (i.e., D*(D−1)/2) isequal to 9*(9−1)/2, which is equal to 36. For ease of description, onlythree two-tone subsets 308 are shown in FIG. 3. After the subset 306 isselected, MPSK (e.g., QPSK) may be used to modulate the datacorresponding to the modulated values 310 into the selected subset 306according to a mapping. For each symbol 304, and according to themapping, one of the two-tone subsets is chosen to transmit two chosenQPSK modulated values (e.g., signal phase j in tone 307 a, and signalphase −j in tone 307 b) in the transmitted signal 106.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart 400 of a method of wireless communication by aUE. The method may be performed by a UE, such as the UE 104 shown inFIG. 1. At 402, an allocation of a set of tones in a symbol forconveying data is determined. The symbol may be a SC-FDMA symbol. Forexample, referring to FIGS. 1-3, the UE 104 may determine 111 anallocation of a set 202, 302 of tones 201, 301 in a SC-FDMA symbol 204,304 for conveying data 210, 310.

At 404, a determination to use m-ary phase shift keying (MPSK) tomodulate the data onto a subset of tones of the set of tones is made. Ina first configuration, the subset of tones may include one tone, the setof tones includes D tones, the MPSK may have M possible signal phases, kbits of data may be modulated onto the subset of tones, and M may begreater than or equal to 2. In a second configuration, possible subsetsmay include D*(D−1)/2 two-tone subsets, D may be greater than 2, anumber of bits of the data may be equal to k, and k may be a largestinteger such that k is not greater than log₂(D*(D−1)*M*M/2). Forexample, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, in a first configuration, the UE104 determines to use BPSK to modulate 113 the data 210 onto a subset206 of a tone 207 of the allocated set 202 of tones 208, the subset 206of tones including one tone 207, the allocated set 202 of tones 208includes 4 tones, the MPSK has 2 possible signal phases, and 3 bits ofdata are modulated onto the subset 206 of a tone 207. As anotherexample, and referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, in a second configuration, theUE 104 determines to use QPSK to modulate 113 the data 310 onto a subset306 of tones 307 a, 307 b of the set 302 of tones, possible subsets 308include D*(D−1)/2 two-tone subsets, D is equal to 9, a number of bits ofthe data is equal to 9, which is the greatest integer not greater thanlog₂(D*(D−1)*M*M/2).

At 406, the data may be modulated onto the subset of tones based on amapping that maps pairs of data values with a largest Hamming distancefrom each other to pairs of constellation points with a maximumEuclidean distance from each other. The mapping may map pairs of datavalues with a largest Hamming distance to constellation points that havedata modulated to a same tone. The mapping may be between 2^(k) possibledata values and 2^(k) constellation points of D*M constellation points,and k may be a largest integer such that D*M is greater than or equal to2k. For example, referring to FIGS. 1-3, the UE 104 may modulate 113 thedata 210, 310 onto the subset 206, 306 of tones 201, 301 based on amapping that maps pairs of 8 possible data values (in FIG. 2) with alargest Hamming distance from each other to pairs of 8 constellationpoints of 4*2 constellation points with a maximum Euclidean distancefrom each other on a same tone.

At 408, the data is refrained from being modulated onto tones other thanone tone in the set of tones. For example, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2,the UE 104 may refrain from modulating data onto tones (e.g., unselectedtones 212) other than said one tone 207 in the allocated set 202 oftones.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart 500 of a method of wireless communication. Themethod may be performed by a base station, such as the base station 102shown in FIG. 1. At 502, a data transmission may be received from a UE.For example, referring to FIG. 1, the base station 102 may receive asignal 106 from a UE 104.

At 504, a subset of tones having maximal energy of an allocated set oftones in a symbol may be detected. The set of tones may include D tones,the MPSK may have M possible signal phases, and k bits of data may bemodulated onto the subset of tones. Possible subsets may includeD*(D−1)/2 two-tone subsets, D may be greater than 2, a number of bits ofthe data may be equal to k, and k may be a largest integer such that kis not greater than log₂(D*(D−1)*M*M/2). For example, referring to FIGS.1-3, the base station 102 may detect 108 a subset 206, 306 of tones 207,307 a, 307 b having maximal energy of an allocated set 202, 302 of tonesin a symbol 204, 304, the set 202, 302 of tones including 4 tones inFIG. 2, or 9 tones in FIG. 3, the MPSK having 2 possible signal phasesin FIG. 2, and 4 possible signal phases in FIG. 3, and 3 bits of data(FIG. 2) or 9 bits of data (FIG. 3) being modulated onto the subset 206,306 of tones 207, 307 a, 307 b, the configuration shown in FIG. 3including 36 two-tone subsets.

At 506, each tone of the subset of tones may be demodulated to determinedata based on a mapping that maps pairs of data values with a largestHamming distance from each other to pairs of constellation points with amaximum Euclidean distance from each other. The mapping may map pairs ofdata values with a largest Hamming distance to constellation points thathave data modulated to a same tone. The mapping may be between 2^(k)possible data values and 2^(k) constellation points of D*M constellationpoints. Demodulating each tone may include determining a modulated valueon the tone, determining a Euclidean distance between the receivedmodulated value and each of allowed modulated values corresponding toallowable constellation points, determining a constellation point basedon a minimum determined Euclidean distance, and determining data basedon the determined constellation point and the mapping. For example,referring to FIGS. 1-3, the base station 102 may demodulate 109 eachtone 207, 307 a, 307 b of the subset 206, 306 of tones to determine data210, 310 based on a mapping that maps pairs of data values with alargest Hamming distance from each other to pairs of constellationpoints with a maximum Euclidean distance from each other and having datamodulated to a same tone, and the demodulating 109 may be achieved bydetermining a modulated value 210, 310 on the tone 207, 307 a, 307 b,determining a Euclidean distance between the received modulated valueand each of allowed modulated values corresponding to allowableconstellation points, determining a constellation point based on aminimum determined Euclidean distance, and determining data based on thedetermined constellation point and the mapping.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual data flow diagram 600 illustrating the data flowbetween different modules/means/components in an exemplary apparatus602. The apparatus 602 may be a UE. The UE 602 includes a receptionmodule 604 that is configured to receive data indicating an allocationof a set of tones in a symbol (e.g., a SC-FDMA symbol). The receptionmodule 604 may also be configured to receive data indicating definedtwo-tone subsets, and/or to receive data indicating adata-value-to-constellation point mapping. The UE may receive the datafrom an eNB 603, from another UE 609, and/or from memory. The UE 609 maybe operating as a relay. The UE 602 further includes an allocationdetermination module 605 that is configured to communicate with thereception module 604 and to determine which set of tones in a symbolhave been allocated. The UE 602 further includes a subset selectionmodule 606 that is configured to communicate with the allocationdetermination module 605 and to select a subset of tones of theallocated set of tones. The subset of tones may include one or moretones, and may be selected by the subset selection module 606 based on amapping that maps pairs of data values with a largest Hamming distancefrom each other to pairs of constellation points with a maximumEuclidean distance from each other, such that the data can be conveyedvia transmission. Although not shown, the subset selection module 606may further have an input such that the subset selection module 606 mayreceive input bits of a data. The UE 602 further includes a datamodulation module 607 that is configured to communicate with the subsetselection module 606, to determine to use m-ary phase shift keying(MPSK) to modulate the data onto a selected subset of tones, and tomodulate a modulated value(s) onto the tone(s) of the selected subset.The data modulation module 607 may be configured to modulate a modulatedvalue(s) into the selected subset of the set of tones using MPSK (e.g.,BPSK, QPSK, etc.). Furthermore, the data modulation module 607 maychoose the signal phase of the modulated value(s) based on a mappingthat maps pairs of data values with a largest Hamming distance from eachother to pairs of constellation points with a maximum Euclidean distancefrom each other, such that the data can be conveyed via transmission.The UE further includes a transmission module 608 that communicates withthe data modulation module 607. The transmission module 608 isconfigured to transmit the modulated data. The modulated data may bereceived by a node (the eNB 603). The data modulation module 607 may beconfigured to refrain from modulating data onto unselected tones of theallocated set of tones.

The apparatus may include additional modules that perform each of theblocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned flow chart of FIG. 4. Assuch, each block in the aforementioned flow chart of FIG. 4 may beperformed by a module and the apparatus may include one or more of thosemodules. The modules may be one or more hardware components specificallyconfigured to carry out the stated processes/algorithm, implemented by aprocessor configured to perform the stated processes/algorithm, storedwithin a computer-readable medium for implementation by a processor, orsome combination thereof.

FIG. 7 is a diagram 700 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for a UE 602′ employing a processing system 714. Theprocessing system 714 may be implemented with a bus architecture,represented generally by the bus 724. The bus 724 may include any numberof interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specificapplication of the processing system 714 and the overall designconstraints. The bus 724 links together various circuits including oneor more processors and/or hardware modules, represented by the processor704, the modules 604, 605, 606, 607, 608, and the computer-readablemedium/memory 706. The bus 724 may also link various other circuits suchas timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power managementcircuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not bedescribed any further.

The processing system 714 may be coupled to a transceiver 710. Thetransceiver 710 is coupled to one or more antennas 720. The transceiver710 provides a means for communicating with various other apparatus overa transmission medium. The transceiver 710 receives a signal from theone or more antennas 720, extracts information from the received signal,and provides the extracted information to the processing system 714,specifically the reception module 604. In addition, the transceiver 710receives information from the processing system 714, specifically thetransmission module 608, and based on the received information,generates a signal to be applied to the one or more antennas 720. Theprocessing system 714 includes a processor 704 coupled to acomputer-readable medium/memory 706. The processor 704 is responsiblefor general processing, including the execution of software stored onthe computer-readable medium/memory 706. The software, when executed bythe processor 704, causes the processing system 714 to perform thevarious functions described supra for any particular apparatus. Thecomputer-readable medium/memory 706 may also be used for storing datathat is manipulated by the processor 704 when executing software. Theprocessing system further includes at least one of the modules 605, 606,607. The modules may be software modules running in the processor 704,resident/stored in the computer readable medium/memory 706, one or morehardware modules coupled to the processor 704, or some combinationthereof. The processing system 714 may be a component of the UE 602 andmay include a memory and/or at least one TX processor, RX processor, andcontroller/processor.

In one configuration, the UE 602/602′ for wireless communication is a UEthat includes means for determining an allocation of a set of tones in asymbol for conveying data. The UE further includes means for determiningto use m-ary phase shift keying (MPSK) to modulate the data onto asubset of tones of the set of tones. The UE further includes means formodulating the data onto the subset of tones based on a mapping thatmaps pairs of data values with a largest Hamming distance from eachother to pairs of constellation points with a maximum Euclidean distancefrom each other. The UE may include means for refraining from modulatingdata onto tones other than said one tone in the set of tones. Theaforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned modules ofthe UE 602 and/or the processing system 714 of the UE 602′ configured toperform the functions recited by the aforementioned means. Theprocessing system 714 may include a TX Processor, a RX Processor, and acontroller/processor. As such, in one configuration, the aforementionedmeans may be a TX Processor, a RX Processor, and a controller/processorconfigured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual data flow diagram 800 illustrating the data flowbetween different modules/means/components in an exemplary apparatus802. The apparatus may be an eNB. The eNB 802 includes a receptionmodule 804 that is configured to receive a data transmission, such asmodulated data on a set of tones in a symbol (e.g., signal 106 includingmodulated data 210, 310 on a set 206, 306 of tones 207, 307 a, 307 b ina symbol 204, 304 from a UE 104, 602, 602′, 809). The eNB 802 furtherincludes a tone detection module 805 that is configured to communicatewith the reception module 804, and that is configured to detect a subsetof tones (e.g., tone 207, or tones 307 a, 307 b, having a nonzeroentries) having maximal energy of an allocated set of tones in a symbol.The eNB 802 further includes a tone demodulation module 806 that isconfigured to communicate with the tone detection module 805 and that isconfigured to demodulate each tone of the subset of tones (e.g., tones207, 307 a, 307 b). The eNB 802 further includes a data determinationmodule 807 that is configured to communicate with the tone demodulationmodule 806 and that is configured to determine data based on a mappingthat maps pairs of data values with a largest Hamming distance from eachother (e.g., data values 111 and 000 in FIG. 2) to pairs ofconstellation points with a maximum Euclidean distance from each other.The determination module 807 may determine data by determining amodulated value on the tone, determining a Euclidean distance betweenthe received modulated value and each of allowed modulated valuescorresponding to allowable constellation points, determining aconstellation point based on a minimum determined Euclidean distance,and determining data based on the determined constellation point and themapping. The eNB 802 further includes a transmission module 808 that isconfigured to communicate with the determination module 807. Thetransmission module 808 may be configured to communicate data to the UE809 indicating an allocation of a set of tones in a symbol, dataindicating defined two-tone subsets, and/or data indicating adata-value-to-constellation point mapping.

The apparatus may include additional modules that perform each of theblocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned flow chart of FIG. 5. Assuch, each block in the aforementioned flow charts of FIG. 5 may beperformed by a module and the apparatus may include one or more of thosemodules. The modules may be one or more hardware components specificallyconfigured to carry out the stated processes/algorithm, implemented by aprocessor configured to perform the stated processes/algorithm, storedwithin a computer-readable medium for implementation by a processor, orsome combination thereof.

FIG. 9 is a diagram 900 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an eNB 802′ employing a processing system 914. Theprocessing system 914 may be implemented with a bus architecture,represented generally by the bus 924. The bus 924 may include any numberof interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specificapplication of the processing system 914 and the overall designconstraints. The bus 924 links together various circuits including oneor more processors and/or hardware modules, represented by the processor904, the modules 804, 805, 806, 807, 808, and the computer-readablemedium/memory 906. The bus 924 may also link various other circuits suchas timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power managementcircuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not bedescribed any further.

The processing system 914 may be coupled to a transceiver 910. Thetransceiver 910 is coupled to one or more antennas 920. The transceiver910 provides a means for communicating with various other apparatus overa transmission medium. The transceiver 910 receives a signal from theone or more antennas 920, extracts information from the received signal,and provides the extracted information to the processing system 914,specifically the reception module 804. In addition, the transceiver 910receives information from the processing system 914, specifically thetransmission module 808, and based on the received information,generates a signal to be applied to the one or more antennas 920. Theprocessing system 914 includes a processor 904 coupled to acomputer-readable medium/memory 906. The processor 904 is responsiblefor general processing, including the execution of software stored onthe computer-readable medium/memory 906. The software, when executed bythe processor 904, causes the processing system 914 to perform thevarious functions described supra for any particular apparatus. Thecomputer-readable medium/memory 906 may also be used for storing datathat is manipulated by the processor 904 when executing software. Theprocessing system further includes at least one of the modules 805, 806,and 807. The modules may be software modules running in the processor904, resident/stored in the computer readable medium/memory 906, one ormore hardware modules coupled to the processor 904, or some combinationthereof. The processing system 914 may be a component of the eNB 610 andmay include the memory and/or at least one of the TX processor, the RXprocessor, and the controller/processor.

In one configuration, the eNB 802/802′ includes means for means forreceiving a data transmission from a user equipment (UE). The eNBfurther includes means for detecting a subset of tones having maximalenergy of an allocated set of tones in a symbol. The eNB furtherincludes means for demodulating each tone of the subset of tones todetermine data based on a mapping that maps pairs of data values with alargest Hamming distance from each other to pairs of constellationpoints with a maximum Euclidean distance from each other. Theaforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned modules ofthe eNB 802 and/or the processing system 914 of the eNB 802′ configuredto perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means. Theprocessing system 914 may include a TX Processor, an RX Processor, and acontroller/processor. As such, in one configuration, the aforementionedmeans may be the TX Processor, the RX Processor, and thecontroller/processor configured to perform the functions recited by theaforementioned means.

It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of blocks in theprocesses/flow charts disclosed is an illustration of exemplaryapproaches. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that thespecific order or hierarchy of blocks in the processes/flow charts maybe rearranged. Further, some blocks may be combined or omitted. Theaccompanying method claims present elements of the various blocks in asample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order orhierarchy presented.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” The word “exemplary” is used hereinto mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspectdescribed herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other aspects. Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. Combinations such as“at least one of A, B, or C,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” and “A, B,C, or any combination thereof” include any combination of A, B, and/orC, and may include multiples of A, multiples of B, or multiples of C.Specifically, combinations such as “at least one of A, B, or C,” “atleast one of A, B, and C,” and “A, B, C, or any combination thereof” maybe A only, B only, C only, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C,where any such combinations may contain one or more member or members ofA, B, or C. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements ofthe various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are knownor later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art areexpressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to beencompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein isintended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether suchdisclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is tobe construed as a means plus function unless the element is expresslyrecited using the phrase “means for.”

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of wireless communication,comprising: receiving a data transmission from a user equipment (UE);detecting a subset of tones having maximal energy of an allocated set oftones in a symbol; and demodulating each tone of the subset of tones todetermine data based on a first constellation point and a mapping,wherein the mapping maps pairs of data values with a largest Hammingdistance from each other to pairs of constellation points with a maximumEuclidean distance from each other, wherein the set of tones includes Dtones, wherein the demodulating comprises demodulating using m-ary phaseshift keying (MPSK) having M possible signal phases where k bits of dataare modulated onto the subset of tones, and the mapping is between 2^(k)possible data values and 2^(k) constellation points of D*M constellationpoints, wherein D is a positive integer greater than 1, k is a positivenon-zero integer, and M is a non-zero real number.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the mapping maps pairs of data values with a largestHamming distance to constellation points that have data modulated to asame tone.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein possible subsets compriseD*(D−1)/2 two-tone subsets, D being greater than
 2. 4. The method ofclaim 3, wherein a number of bits of the data is equal to k, and whereink is a largest integer such that k is not greater than log2(D*(D−1)*M*M/2).
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the demodulatingeach tone comprises: determining a modulated value on the tone;determining a Euclidean distance between the determined modulated valueand each of allowed modulated values corresponding to allowableconstellation points; determining the first constellation point based ona minimum determined Euclidean distance; and determining data based onthe determined first constellation point and the mapping.
 6. Anapparatus for wireless communication, comprising: means for receiving adata transmission from a user equipment (UE); means for detecting asubset of tones having maximal energy of an allocated set of tones in asymbol; and means for demodulating each tone of the subset of tones todetermine data based on a first constellation point and a mapping,wherein the mapping maps pairs of data values with a largest Hammingdistance from each other to pairs of constellation points with a maximumEuclidean distance from each other, wherein the set of tones includes Dtones, wherein the demodulating comprises demodulating using m-ary phaseshift keying (MPSK) having M possible signal phases where k bits of dataare modulated onto the subset of tones, and the mapping is between 2^(k)possible data values and 2^(k) constellation points of D*M constellationpoints, wherein D is a positive integer greater than 1, k is a positivenon-zero integer, and M is a non-zero real number.
 7. The apparatus ofclaim 6, wherein the mapping maps pairs of data values with a largestHamming distance to constellation points that have data modulated to asame tone.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein possible subsetscomprise D*(D−1)/2 two-tone subsets, D being greater than
 2. 9. Theapparatus of claim 8, wherein a number of bits of the data is equal tok, and wherein k is a largest integer such that k is not greater thanlog 2(D*(D−1)*M*M/2).
 10. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the meansfor demodulating each tone are configured to: determine a modulatedvalue on the tone; determine a Euclidean distance between the determinedmodulated value and each of allowed modulated values corresponding toallowable constellation points; determine the first constellation pointbased on a minimum determined Euclidean distance; and determine databased on the determined first constellation point and the mapping. 11.An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: memory; at leastone processor coupled to the memory and configured to: receive a datatransmission from a user equipment (UE); detect a subset of tones havingmaximal energy of an allocated set of tones in a symbol; and demodulateeach tone of the subset of tones to determine data based on a firstconstellation point and a mapping, wherein the mapping maps pairs ofdata values with a largest Hamming distance from each other to pairs ofconstellation points with a maximum Euclidean distance from each other,wherein the set of tones includes D tones, wherein the demodulatingcomprises demodulating using m-ary phase shift keying (MPSK) having Mpossible signal phases where k bits of data are modulated onto thesubset of tones, and the mapping is between 2^(k) possible data valuesand 2^(k) constellation points of D*M constellation points, wherein D isa positive integer greater than 1, k is a positive non-zero integer, andM is a non-zero real number.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein themapping maps pairs of data values with a largest Hamming distance toconstellation points that have data modulated to a same tone.
 13. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein possible subsets comprise D*(D−1)/2two-tone subsets, D being greater than
 2. 14. The apparatus of claim 13,wherein a number of bits of the data is equal to k, and wherein k is alargest integer such that k is not greater than log 2(D*(D−1)*M*M/2).15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured to: determine a modulated value on the tone;determine a Euclidean distance between the determined modulated valueand each of allowed modulated values corresponding to allowableconstellation points; determine the first constellation point based on aminimum determined Euclidean distance; and determine data based on thedetermined first constellation point and the mapping.
 16. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer executablecode, comprising code for: receiving a data transmission from a userequipment (UE); detecting a subset of tones having maximal energy of anallocated set of tones in a symbol; and demodulating each tone of thesubset of tones to determine data based on a first constellation pointand a mapping, wherein the mapping maps pairs of data values with alargest Hamming distance from each other to pairs of constellationpoints with a maximum Euclidean distance from each other, wherein theset of tones includes D tones, wherein the demodulating comprisesdemodulating using m-ary phase shift keying (MPSK) having M possiblesignal phases where k bits of data are modulated onto the subset oftones, and the mapping is between 2^(k) possible data values and 2^(k)constellation points of D*M constellation points, wherein D is apositive integer greater than 1, k is a positive non-zero integer, and Mis a non-zero real number.
 17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16,wherein the mapping maps pairs of data values with a largest Hammingdistance to constellation points that have data modulated to a sametone.
 18. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein possiblesubsets comprise D*(D−1)/2 two-tone subsets, D being greater than
 2. 19.The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein a number of bits ofthe data is equal to k, and wherein k is a largest integer such that kis not greater than log 2(D*(D−1)*M*M/2).
 20. The computer-readablemedium of claim 16, further comprising code for: determining a modulatedvalue on the tone; determining a Euclidean distance between thedetermined modulated value and each of allowed modulated valuescorresponding to allowable constellation points; determining the firstconstellation point based on a minimum determined Euclidean distance;and determining data based on the determined first constellation pointand the mapping.